Many consumers in India often wondered why Apple iPhone costs just $199 in US and almost 45 K or more in India. Most people are not aware of the 2 year contract portion of the deal that Apple offers in partnership with service providers for selling iPhone in US.Apple has tried hard to offer iPhone under contract and tried to convince service providers in India to do the same by subsidizing the costs. But service providers in India has always been skeptical about offering iPhones under contract as majority of mobile consumers prefer to use prepaid connections instead of post paid connections.

iphone-5c and 5s

But, it looks like Apple has finally cracked the puzzle in India too and will be offering a free iPhone in partnership with RCOM (Reliance Communications) with 2 year contract which locks the consumer with RCOM network for two years.

The iPhone contract of 2 years will come with unlimited voice calls, SMS and 3G data for a fixed monthly fee ranging between Rs 2,500 &Rs 2,800 (excluding tax off course) and the consumer will be locked in to RCom’s network under two-year contract.

Reliance Communications or Apple is yet to make the official announcement. Unless one of the companies announce it officially, it will remain an unconfirmed report. We will update it as and when we receive any update about it. The announcement is expected today i.e November 1 when iPhone 5S and 5C are coming to India officially from Apple.

Update: Looks like NDTV has more information about the plans that Rcom is offering to the consumers. iPhone 5s and 5c 16 GB model is offered for free at the monthly plan of Rs. 2,999 and Rs. 2,599 respectively (Excluding service tax of 10.3% ). For higher capacity models, you need to have some initial payment as mentioned in the table below. Also, you need a valid credit card to grab this offer.

rcom-gsm-iphone5s-planSource: HBL